Nicotine is very present in anti-doping controls of athletes carried out in Italy

A study reveals that 22.7 % of athletes tested in Italy tested positive for nicotine between 2012 and 2020. Team sports and intense effort sports appear to be more affected than individual and endurance sports.

Conducted by a team of international researchers, the study analyzed data from 60,802 anonymous urine samples from doping controls carried out during sports competitions held in Italy between 2012 and 2020.[1]Nicotine was only included in doping controls in 2012, after the discovery of surprising nicotine levels in ice hockey players in 2009.

The results of this study indicate a mean prevalence of 22.7 % of nicotine-positive athletes during this period. This prevalence had decreased over the period 2015-2020 (15 to 20 %) compared to that of 2012-2014 (25 to 33%), thus following the trend of smoking prevalence in Italy. Male athletes (24.1 %) showed higher positivity than female athletes (18.5 %), reflecting prevalence differences also observed in the general population.

Greater positivity in team sports

The study highlights a higher nicotine positivity in team sports (34.1 %) than in individual sports (14.1 %). To explain this difference, the hypothesis retained is that of the influence of the social environment, particularly between athletes, in team sports. Volleyball, rugby, football, handball and hockey are highlighted here as sports where nicotine positivity is high, while it is lowest in triathlon, cycling and swimming.

The study also indicates that intense effort sports more often show nicotine positivity than endurance sports, although this nomenclature would need to be systematized. In terms of expected effects, the hypothesis formulated is that athletes in intense effort sports would seek more in nicotine a sort of discharge of accumulated tension, while athletes in precision sports (shooting, archery) would rather seek an illusory concentration effect. The muscular availability necessary for endurance sports would lead to avoiding tobacco products.

Knowledge to be enriched on the types of products used

Although the results are consistent with other studies, the authors admit that this study is limited both by the reduction of the sample to a single country, which limits the scope of the results, and by the absence of information on the tobacco and nicotine products consumed. Information on these products used would nevertheless be essential, in order to conduct targeted prevention actions among athletes, particularly on the expected effects of this consumption. Other studies had thus pointed out that athletes in individual sports more often used vaping and were significantly less likely to smoke than other athletes; in team sports, the use of snus and smoked tobacco seemed more widespread. The authors conclude by encouraging the leaders of sports federations, and more particularly those of team sports, to initiate campaigns to prevent smoking and sports doping.

Echoing this study, a Fox Sports article devoted to the use of nicotine pouches (nicotine pouches)[2] in the baseball sector confirms that these products are very popular with athletes, who can sometimes consume them in high doses. One baseball player confides that he consumes two or even four bags at a time and absorbs up to 90 mg of nicotine per day, the equivalent in nicotine of 2 to 4.5 packs of cigarettes.

Keywords: Italy, sport, doping controls, snus, pouches, nicotine

M.F.

[1] Zandonai T, Botrè F, Abate MG, Peiró AM, Mündel T. Should We be Concerned with Nicotine in Sport? Analysis from 60,802 Doping Control Tests in Italy. Sports Med (2023), first published online 24 February 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-023-01819-y

[2] Nicotine pouches placed between the gum and the cheek, similar to snus (tobacco pouches).